Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Holy Humping Hawks!

I am hoping I have resolved my 403 error with Google and this will post.

The weather has been perfect, and I hope it holds out because we have a lot to do before we leave.

The only problem we’ve had is that the days are too short, and we run out of day before we run out of things to do. It’s so much nicer when the days are longer.

We’ve had some wonderful happy hours by the campfire, with a beautiful full moon.

This shot was taken through some tree branches and made the moon look kind of different, don’t you think?

Every morning, at the crack of 6:00 ish, we were up and on the road for a drive along the 5 mile campground trail. It’s still dark but the beautiful full moon lights the way. This road is a great place to see wildlife and we always see something interesting. We always take another drive just before sunset.

During the day, we do hikes. There are miles and miles, and miles of trails. Two women that are camping nearby, got lost on horseback the other day.

Before daylight, we see lots of deer and rabbits and we think we saw a bobcat one morning. I didn’t get a picture before it scooted across the road and into the prairie.

The full moon soon gives way to a foggy sunrise.

As the sun came up, the fog burned off and it was the beginning of another beautiful sunny day on the prairie.

We saw a flock of White Ibis.

Along the road we saw this Red Shouldered Hawk perching on a fence post. I almost didn’t bother to stop for a photo because she didn’t really look that pretty and I’ve seen SO many hawks on this prairie.

But…the good little photographer in me wouldn’t let me stop without a picture, and boy was I glad I did.

While I had my eye in the viewfinder taking pictures of her, Al said another hawk flew right beside me.

He landed right on top of Ms. Hawk.

I was already focused on the female hawk so getting some action shots was easy. Holy humping hawks!

They fooled around a little, the male flew off and then the female followed him. We decided not to follow as I don’t think think they had finished. :)

It’s definitely mating season in Florida. We think the Caracara are also building nests, and we believe we have discovered where one of them is.

I’m going to keep this short to see if it will post. Between my 403 error and slow internet, it’s been a challenge.

Have you checked out Birds and Blooms magazine? I'm sure your photos would be published.....award winning! The moon shot is awesome! So glad you got the 403 error fixed so we can all enjoy your pictures!

Hey Karen, We did get a site at Midway. Looks like you are having another fabulous time at the prairie. Our internet here is so sketchy that it won't bring up all your pictures so I haven't seen the hawk ones yet. I'll try tomorrow up at the visitor center. Sounds like they are fantastic from what everyone else says. I'm not surprised.

I declare you do get THE best pictures at Kissimmee. It is your place. This PDA clearly shows those hawks to be teenagers! What time of the day did you get those pictures? I'm amazed that she didn't fly off if you stopped the car. You have the magic.